Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana on Monday issued a government order on the implementation of Scheduled Castes (SC) categorisation, making it the first state in the country to do so officially, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Telangana government had earlier appointed a commission headed by retired High Court judge Justice Shameem Akther on SC categorisation, which made recommendations that the 59 Scheduled Caste (SC) communities be divided into three groups viz I, II, and III for the total reservations of 15 per cent in government jobs and education.
"The following Act of the Telangana Legislature received the assent of the Governor of Telangana on 8, April 2025 and the said assent is hereby first published on the 14th April 2025 in the Telangana Gazette for general information," the GO said.
The issuance of GO coincides with the birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar, architect of Indian Constitution.
According to the commission report, group-I one comprising 15 socially, economically and educationally disadvantaged SC communities, are given one per cent reservation.
Group-II, including 18 moderately benefited SC communities, are provided a nine per cent quota while the Group-III comprising 26 significantly benefited SC communities, are given five per cent reservation.
Addressing a press conference, Minister Reddy, who headed a sub-committee on SC Categorisation, said the first copy of the GO was given to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy this morning.
"From today, from this moment, SC categorisation will be implemented in Telangana in employment and education. We have issued a GO to that extent and gave the first copy to the CM," he told reporters.
"Telangana is the first state to implement the SC categorisation after the Supreme Court’s verdicts," Reddy said.
The minister alleged that earlier governments in Telangana confined themselves to pass resolutions for the categorisation and never took forward.
He further said all job vacancies in the state government now will be filled according to the sub-categorisation for SCs.
The Irrigation Minister further said the cabinet sub-committee did an extensive exercise in collecting the opinion of all the stakeholders.
He also said if the SC population goes up in 2026 census, the reservations for it would go up accordingly.
The Telangana Legislature in February accepted the recommendations of Justice Akther on SC categorisation, rejecting an advice that creamy layer should be exempted from reservations.
The Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservation) Bill, 2025 was passed last month. The Supreme Court gave a verdict last year in favour of categorisation.
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Panaji (PTI): Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has invoked the "cooperative federalism" principle while targeting the Karnataka government amid the Mhadei river water sharing dispute between the two states.
"They (Karnataka) speak about stopping the supply of vegetables or tourism inflow (to Goa). We never use such language. India can go forward with cooperative federalism. We are Indians first and Goans later," the chief minister told the legislative assembly on Friday after opposition leader Yuri Alemao claimed that Karnataka had threatened to stop vegetable supplies to Goa.
Goa and Karnataka are embroiled in a dispute over sharing the Mhadei river water. The BJP-ruled Goa has accused the Congress-governed Karnataka of planning to divert the river water by constructing two dams.
Sawant had said that the Goa government would file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka for carrying out activities that are aimed at diverting the Mhadei river water.
After the House passed the demands for grants for agriculture, Sawant said Goa has reduced the horticulture import by 30-40 per cent, whereas horticulture commodities' export has gone up by 20 per cent.
He stated that the state-run Horticulture Corporation has been procuring vegetables and fruits from farmers in various states and selling them through stalls.
The chief minister mentioned about a young farmer, Varad Samant, who has been providing vegetables of Rs 50 lakh every year to the state horticulture department.
"I have met this young farmer who is in his 30s. He told me that he earns a net 60 per cent profit from the vegetable supply business," Sawant said.
He said the government has focused on the agriculture sector. Citing the Swayampurna Goa Scheme, he said millet production is being boosted.
Referring to the demands of the Opposition, the chief minister said, rather than increasing support price for various products, the government is contemplating the possibility of providing a hundred per cent subsidy to farmers involved in community farming.
"65,500 farmers are registered with the department. They are eligible for facilities like Krishi card and Kissan credit card. They can now walk into the bank and avail of loan up to Rs 1 lakh. If any bank refuses to lend, tell me. Because the guarantee of your loan is PM Modi's guarantee," he added.